NX Discussion, Hits ,Tips & Tricks

[Canis Vulpes]

Originally Posted by ollieholmes

I dont mind waiting if it means good results.

It is possible to save as JPEG directly from NX. I did this earlier and it took milliseconds to save, as fast as photoshop. If Ollie does this before opening another editting application his compters RAM can be used more efficiently.

Click File -> Save As -> choose JPEG and level of compression required.

[Don Hoey]

I will do some screen captures to show the route and options. I agree that an NX RAW to JPEG conversion will help Ollies RAM limitations.

I have just converted a 13.2mb NEF to a best quality 5.15mb JPEG.

This JPEG can then be edited in NX. A version of that edit can also be saved as a NEF file, so this is another method of editing a JPEG without concerns of image degradation through multiple saves during the edit process.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Ollie,

Four graphics with a bit of explanation that I hope you find useful.

Thinking about the limits of your laptop when it comes to having a play with NX, I suggest you do any straightening and those items in the attached edit list that can only be done on a RAW file. Then save as the absolute best quality JPEG, which will have a smaller file size than the RAW. Now re open that JPEG in NX for a play with control points etc.

As you progress through the save as you will come to a ' Save Options Dialog ' box. By default this sets Good Balance, so click the drop down and select Excellent Quality then save.

Note you can save the edited JPEG as a NEF that will retain all the edit info so you can go back to it and change anything you did previously as it will all appear in the edit list. Necessarily this will be quite a large file.

Don

[ollieholmes]

I have not actualy converted any images yet with Nx as my laptop is desperatly low on hard drive space.
How do i go aout sharpening with the shaprening mask in the programme? I have had a crack at it and cannot work it out. What are the benefits of converting it to a high quality Jpeg rather than a tiff file?

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by ollieholmes

I have not actualy converted any images yet with Nx as my laptop is desperatly low on hard drive space. ...................................... What are the benefits of converting it to a high quality Jpeg rather than a tiff file?

Ollie,

In your case it is file size.

The helicopter image in the graphic above is NEF 13.27mb , TIFF 70.07mb, JPEG 5.15mb.

As each processing action creates an undo then with a TIFF you will quickly run out of RAM and then the pc will use the hard disk to temporarily store and retrieve this info. At this point all processing actions will slow to a crawl. I had a go with a large file on my laptop yesterday, 833MHz with 128Mb of RAM, 10Gb free space, machine just defragged. When RAM was full simple actions took over 8 minutes

I suggest you take a NEF and save that as a TIFF and a JPEG and use explorer to check relative file sizes. I have just edited the 5.15mb JPEG mentioned above and added 6 control points and saved it as a NEF. It is now 10.7mb still hugely smaller than a TIFF. Why is the NEF larger than the origional JPEG ?? .............. It retains all the edit actions that I made, and these are available to make any additions or changes you may wish the moment the image is opened. In effect non destructive editing of the JPEG from the moment it was saved as a NEF.


As to the sharpening feature I would have to have a look as I have not used this in NX.

I hope this is some help.

Don

[ollieholmes]

Don,
Thank you for the file size comparison. I think i will go with a higest quality jpeg after reading that.

[Don Hoey]

I thought it may help if I posted a couple of large starter play pics. Reposting a query relative to these helps me to understand how best to help. Any other pics to play with are welcome from users of any make of camera as NX will work with any jpegs.

The helicopter is good for assessing how to do Black, White and Neutral points. The white fuselarge side will also show up any introduced colour cast.

The big sky in pic 2 helps in setting control point size and duplicate control points.

The images are 2000 wide to give some room for a play.

Don

[Don Hoey]

To answer a question on B&W points I have taken Play Image 1

Graphic 1) I have randomly dropped a black point on the rotor as that may be deemed to " look " black.
Graphic 2) The Double Threshold box on the histogram was checked, image magnified and a black point set as described in post 14.
Graphic 3) A side by side to show the effect on the image.
Graphic 4) Image view when setting black point using DoubleThreshold.

Black and White points will affect the whole image and what may at casual glance appear black, may well not be Red 0 , Green 0 , Blue 0 , Black but a very dark grey.

White point is set in a similar fashion.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Anyone new to NC4 or NX may wonder what D-Light is in the base adjustments list.

D lighting is part of the Base Adjustments and is available for all image formats.

In cases of underexposure or backlighting this can be used to draw out shadow and highlight details.

Two screen captures are attached to give an idea of what D-Light will do.

Its control box is available by clicking the arrow by Base Adjustments. A drop down menue of available options will be displayed. Click on the arrow for Light and Colour Adjustments, finally click on the arrow by D-Lighting.

This control is available in 2 flavours - Faster or Better Quality. In either flavour the sliders will adopt a default position, and the image will display the effect of that setting. If you have a large file or are at high magnification this may take a few seconds. The available sliders can then be moved to achieve the desired result which will be displayed.

When you are aware of what D-Light can do, you may find that as in this case, that you can deliberately base exposure biased towards the sky as you could draw out shadow detail in pp.

Don

[ollieholmes]

Here are some screen captures from me working on a light coloured aeroplane from Old Warden. Am i setting my blackpoint wrong?